Mistakes Were Made
by TTY7
Summary: "My heart drops to my stomach. No matter long it's been since our battles on Lyoko started, the reaction I get is the same. A few seconds of panic followed by grim resolve. Like it or not, I have a responsibility to the world. I can't afford to break down. I can't afford to make mistakes. But I made one. I made an awful, stupid choice I can't take back."
1. Pilot

A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you guys are having a fantastic day! Now, Lord knows I should not be starting a new story, but I've had some new ideas lately and basically...I want to post a bunch of pilot chapters for some of these ideas to see what people are interested in. Plus, I re-watched some Code Lyoko fairly recently and I wanted to see if I could do the series justice...even if it's just for a pilot chapter for the time being. It'll be really helpful if you guys let me know what you think or if you want to see more.

Disclaimer: Code Lyoko does not belong to me. This is just a Fanfiction scenario I thought would be interesting to explore.

Warning: Though I grew up with Code Lyoko, I have never written for this series before, so if you notice something severely off with how the characters act or with general lore, feel free to tell me. In addition, this story will cover a sensitive subject matter, which is the other reason why feedback on this pilot chapter will be greatly appreciated. I'm not going to say what the topic is here, as you will find out pretty shortly in the content below. And, I cannot stress this enough, this is a pilot chapter. I have a lot of incomplete stories, so I feel those need to get done first before I dedicate a large amount of time to new work. In summation, updates for this are going to be REALLY slow.

Anyway, enough chit chat. Let's get this show on the road!

* * *

_Pilot_

* * *

"BEEP BEEP!"

I don't have to look at the caller I.D. to know who's calling me right now.

I just got through thinking this day couldn't get any worse, and then my cell phone springs to life with that familiar, desperate buzzing. The sound blares loudly through the almost deafening silence around me. My ears are practically ringing from it...

But it's familiar.

Slowly but surely, my panicked breathing returns to normal, which comes as a surprise honestly.

Usually when Jeremie calls to let me know XANA is attacking, my heart drops to my stomach. No matter how long it's been since our battles on Lyoko started, the reaction I get is the same. A few seconds of panic followed by grim resolve.

Like it or not, I have a responsibility to the world. I can't afford to break down.

I can't afford to make mistakes.

But I made one. I made an awful, stupid choice I can't take back.

The phone keeps buzzing for a few more seconds then stops. The silence returns. My roaring, angry thoughts make up for the lack of sound until Jeremie tries to reach me again a minute or so later.

Sighing shakily, I get up from my spot on the bathroom floor and reach for the red device laying horizontally on the counter. Sure enough, Jeremie is on the other end, waiting for my answer.

Once again, duty calls.

That duty leaves no room for issues like this.

After taking a deep breath, I click the answer call button with my thumb and press the phone to my ear. "Yes, Jeremie?"

"Oh! Yumi! Thank goodness I reached you!"

"Sorry I didn't answer the first time. Is it XANA?"

"Yep, and we need you at the factory asap."

"Understood. I'm on my way."

This is my life. I go to school. I study hard to make good grades so I can go to a good university like my parents want, and on the side I help save the world from a lethal artificial intelligence software by going into a virtual world to fight monsters.

In a word...my life is complicated.

And now...as I stuff my cell phone into my pants pocket, I find myself staring at a new complication...a problem of my own making.

With trembling fingers I pick up the plastic stick I'd left on the counter three minutes before Jeremie's call.

Yep. That's what I expected.

"_Pregnant. Great. Just great._"

* * *

A/N: And that is how this first chapter ends...on a cliffhanger. Let me know if you guys are intrigued and want to see more. Thanks for reading! I hope all of you have a fantastic day!


	2. Afraid

A/N: So, I was able to update this story a lot faster than I thought I would because I just happened to sit down at my computer last night, first to edit something for another story and then ended up writing the second half of this chapter, which had been blank for months because I didn't have a clear idea of where the story would go next. But last night inspiration hit and well, here we are. I hope you guys will enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: Code Lyoko does not belong to me. This is just a Fanfiction written for entertainment purposes.

Warnings: Once more, this story covers the subject of teen pregnancy, and with that subject matter comes other sensitive topics. Not sure if I'll touch all of them in this story since my update schedule is whack and all, but I do want to portray these issues in as a realistic manner as I can. The show this Fanfiction is based on is about teenagers going into a virtual world to fight an artificial intelligence in order to save mankind...so the dynamics of the situation portrayed in this story will have added complications due to this fact. You'll see what I mean in this chapter I think.

_Italics_ = Thoughts or emphasis. Thoughts will have quotation marks around them. A full section of italics indicates a flashback or memory.

Additional note: This chapter is named after the Day6 song Afraid. Definitely check it out if you have spare time. It's a beautiful song!

* * *

_Afraid_

* * *

It took me about fifteen minutes to get to the factory. I would have gotten there faster if I didn't need to stop twice to throw up while I was in the sewers, thus reminding me of my current predicament. Thankfully, today was one of those rare occasions when I actually made it to my planned destination without encountering whatever it was XANA was using to attack us. It was a welcome change, primarily because having to run from swarms of possessed teachers, a literal food monster, mutant weeds, or...anything else _creative_ XANA has up his sleeves would have just made my already foul mood all the fouler.

_Pregnant._

Exhaling slowly, I leaned back against the wall as the elevator doors closed. "Just focus on the task at hand, Yumi. Don't think about..._that..._right now."

I would have to think about it eventually, but for the time being, stopping XANA is the only thing that matters.

Although...

When the doors opened again, I was met with the sight of Jeremie at his usual position in front of the super computer, his glasses reflecting the light of the screen.

"Odd and Aelita are already waiting for you in the scanner room."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "And Ulrich?"

"No response from him so far," Jeremie answered, a hint of irritation in his tone. "I've been calling for over ten minutes now."

Clenching my fists at my sides, I gave a quick nod of acknowledgement. "We better deactivate the tower fast then...in case he's dealing with whatever XANA cooked up today."

Jeremie began typing furiously then. "Okay. Head to the scanner room. I'm going to boot up the virtualization process."

I didn't answer him, instead choosing to just push the button to close the doors on the elevator.

"_Ulrich..."_

My hand drifts to my stomach unconsciously as I come to the realization that I might not be able to wear my favorite cropped black sweater for much longer.

_Pregnant._

I start to think about that night again...a night that never should have happened.

_We can be friends but that's all._

The elevator doors open and my mind instantly shifts to the immediate problem of XANA. Each trip to Lyoko is a high stakes mission, especially now that he has access to the internet. Plus, two of the four sectors of Lyoko are gone. If the rest go, we won't be able to get to sector five to protect Lyoko's core.

And these days, XANA's attacks have become increasingly malicious.

There's been some major close calls recently.

That's part of the reason...part of the reason why...

"Hey Yumi!" Odd called out cheerily. "Glad you could make it."

"You know I wouldn't miss a chance to kick some XANA butt," I replied, trying to match his enthusiasm to cover up the storm raging inside my mind.

"Today I'm definitely going to beat Ulrich's record," Odd continued, which prompted a laugh from Aelita.

"Not if I beat it first," Aelita quipped, winking playfully. "Last I checked, you were still in last place, Odd."

"Hey, I'm just holding back so the rest of you can shine."

"Guys, not that I don't enjoy the banter," Jeremie called out through the speakers, "But the countdown for the scanners is about to run out."

"We read you loud and clear, Jeremie," I answered back, stepping into the scanner closest to me.

"You hear from Ulrich yet, Einstein?" Odd asked once he was in his scanner.

"No. Nothing yet. I'll keep trying."

Aelita let out a soft sigh, "The three of us should be enough, but..."

"It would have been nice to get that _one_ extra person into the group." Odd wiggled his eyebrows while giving me a pointed look.

I resisted the urge to slap my forehead as I quickly pieced together who Odd was talking about.

"_Oh my God...William. What's he going to think if he finds out? He's been trying to date me practically since we met and...he's nice enough and I like him but now this...THIS is going on on top of everything with Lyoko and XANA..."_

The scanner doors close, silencing the thoughts before they could continue any further. My eyes slipped shut, and for a few seconds I felt some measure of peace.

And then...gravity took hold.

I opened my eyes just as we landed within the ice sector.

"Ooof!"

"You okay there, Yumi," Odd asked, walking to my side when he noticed it was taking me a bit longer to rise from my crouched position a few centimeters above the ice.

"_Man, I feel queasy right now." _As that thought raced through my head, I got up slowly and told Odd I was fine before exchanging a glance with Aelita.

She caught me bent over a toilet spewing my guts out a few days ago. Thanks to that embarrassment, I was forced to confide in her about the..._incident_ so she wouldn't immediately rush to the infirmary to get help. She'd already suspected before then that something was off with me, mainly because I hadn't been eating much at breakfast or lunch.

Yesterday, when it became obvious that I might be..._compromised..._I asked Aelita to get the pregnancy test for me.

I don't know how or where she got it from. She didn't say. All I know is that after my morning class today, she met me at our gang's usual spot by the vending machines then slipped it into my backpack just before Jeremie and the others showed up.

After school I came straight home instead of hanging around campus like I normally would have. No one would be home for a while, and I knew there wouldn't be another opportunity for me to find out whether I was pregnant or not.

Now I know...and I have no idea what I'm going to do about it.

Aelita seems to get the message I'm sending out with my gaze immediately, but doesn't say anything about it. Instead she simply says, "We better get going."

"We'll be needing our vehicles, Einstein."

"I'm on it Odd," Jeremie answered from outside Lyoko.

In seconds Odd's hover board and my overboard materialized next to us. I hopped onto my vehicle and grasped the handles as Odd cartwheeled onto his, showing off as per usual. Aelita quickly boarded the overboard behind me, her hands on my shoulders as the vehicle slowly lifted up from the ground.

"What are you going to do?" she whispered.

"I don't know," I answered, keeping my gaze ahead as the machine began to pick up speed. Odd was already a couple of paces in front of us, joyriding like he hadn't done this a thousand times already.

"Are you going to tell, Ulrich?"

"I don't know..."

"Is it even safe for you to be on Lyoko right now...what if..."

"Aelita, I think we should talk about this later," I interrupted, now noticing that there were a couple Blocks and a Tarantula ahead, gearing up for attacks along our path to the activated tower.

Letting out an irritated grunt, I withdrew one of my fans.

"_The way I'm feeling right now, I think I'm going to be the one setting records today."_

With a flick of my wrist, I sent the first fan flying toward one of the Blocks. Though it noticed the attack, it didn't get out of the way fast enough and burst into pieces the second my weapon made contact.

"Alright! Direct hit!" I shouted, catching my fan and weaving through the sky to dodge the lasers the other creatures had started firing. Odd was still firing off his laser arrows and managed to destroy a Block just as I had, but the Tarantula seemed to be focusing its attention on him more than us, which was definitely good. With the thing distracted, Aelita and I could simply fly over it and get the tower deactivated immediately...

"Yumi! Look out!"

Aelita's shout startled me. "What?"

Before I could properly register what was happening, a laser slammed into the underside of the overboard. As the vehicle began to de-materialize, I glanced over my shoulder and saw another Tarantula tailing us.

_"These pests never know when to stop."_

Aelita acted first once we landed, concentrating on sending an energy blast toward the machine as I gathered my footing. The other Tarantula had Odd occupied, giving the other two Blocks leeway to approach us.

"Not good," I muttered, taking a defensive stance next to Aelita as she took a slow step backward. "We're surrounded."

"You think you can create an opening for me, Yumi?"

Equipped with both my fans, I nodded. "Yeah. Head for the tower as soon as it's clear. I'm sure Odd will manage to finish off his creature by then. He can take you the rest of the way."

The Tarantula started firing before Aelita could reply back. She ran out of range of the attacks and I sent out my first fan to throw the Tarantula off while simultaneously dodging the lasers the Blocks were firing behind me with the other. I had to do a couple of flips away from the Blocks to catch the first fan I sent out, but once it was in my hand, I sent both of the weapons flying back toward the annoying creatures. Their shrieks sounded in my ears as the weapons slammed into them. Odd finally defeated the pesky Tarantula focusing on him a second later.

"Go Aelita!" I screamed.

The Tarantula in front of me moved to angle its canons toward Aeilta. I stepped into the path of the lasers immediately, heedless of the fact that my fans had crashed to the ground several feet away.

The first laser hit my chest. The second slammed into my stomach.

And in the next second...everything turned black.

* * *

_"Um...Yumi?"_

_"Hmm?"_

_"What's really going on...between y-you and William?"_

_"Nothing at all he's just...just a friend."_

_An audible thump sounded, and Yumi knew without turning that Ulrich had collapsed to the floor. He was still breathing, but she could tell it was uneven and labored. He wasn't going to last long...neither was she._

_"Ul-rich...don't you dare...pass out on me."_

_The boy didn't answer. He continued to lay on the floor as the heat of the room continued to increase little by little. Every breath Yumi tried to take was __agonizing, and though the sudden silence in the room was terrifying to her, she was glad he'd passed out. If nothing else, unconsciousness would provide him with some relief from what was coming._

_She on the other hand was shaking as sweat poured from her brow. The air in the room seemed to grow thicker by the second thanks to the broken heat meter. There was no way out for them either. Early on in their captivity, Ulrich had desperately tried to ram down the door with his body weight despite telling Odd and Aelita to leave them behind and deactivate the tower without them, saying it was their only hope. Perhaps Ulrich had just been trying to be brave for her sake, but started panicking the second he realized that Odd and Aelita deactivating that tower really was their only hope of survival._

_It was his attempts to ram down the door that made him slip into unconsciousness faster._

_That and the fact that he'd talked a lot._

_At first it was to alleviate her feelings of awkwardness when he took off his shirt and told her he wouldn't look if she needed to do the same, which she did, leaving her clad in her pink sports bra, black pants, and boots. Ulrich opted to keep his pants and shoes on as well despite the increasing temperature of the room._

_ A few minutes later he talked to distract them both from not only the awkwardness of being half-naked but to distract them from the increasing heat. Had Yumi been up for small talk, his attempt probably would have worked to ease the tension in the air, but there was no easing either of their fears and they both knew it. Ulrich's attempts were just a way to fill the silence._

_And then, after another few minutes the temperature started to become unbearable._

_That was when Ulrich asked his question about William._

_And after she gave her answer, he spoke no more._

_Now alone in the heat, she was wishing for his useless words about nothing. Even the questions about her relationship with William would have been welcome._

_Instead the heat seemed to get even worse. She was suffocating faster. It was so hot now that her body couldn't produce sweat properly anymore. _

_"Ulrich..."_

_She called his name again as she pivoted on the bench she was sitting on. Then, she got to the floor to crawl over to him. The movements were painstakingly slow as she edged her way toward him, but eventually, with a shaky hand, she touched his bare shoulder and made a weak attempt to shake him._

_Though she barely moved him at all, Ulrich's eyes slowly fluttered open. Weak as he was, he was able to pivot his gaze toward her. His breathing was shallow and raspy, and Yumi honestly wasn't sure if he was completely coherent or not. It didn't matter._

_Words tumbled out of her mouth._

_"I can't...face it alone. I n-need you."_

_Understanding briefly flashed in Ulrich's eyes as he shakily moved his hand toward hers on the floor. His fingers slipped between hers easily._

_"It'll...be...o-kay," he whispered, hoarse. "Whichever w-way it goes...it'll be okay."_

_Tears sprung to the corners of her eyes as Ulrich gently squeezed her hand. She squeezed his back as she collapsed against the floor, unable to stay upright anymore._

_The two of them lay there breathlessly together, staring into each others eyes as tears rolled down both their faces._

_And then...everything turned black._

* * *

"Yumi! Yumi, wake up! Yumi!"

For a few seconds I couldn't move. My body felt stiff and my head was pounding.

Violent exits from Lyoko are common, so are these side-effects.

What isn't common is Ulrich hovering over me, shaking me as he drags me out of the scanner.

"Let go," I mumbled, blearily opening my eyes to stare up at my friend's face only to shift my gaze away.

_Pregnant._

Ulrich takes a few steps back from me, his eyes showing concern with a hint of irritation. "Looks like Lyoko did a number on you today."

"You could say that again," I told him unable to stop myself from laughing a little bit despite the growing tension between us. "I'm guessing they haven't deactivated the tower yet?"

"Nope. I'm heading in now to even the playing field."

I responded with a nod, then tried to stagger to my feet. My knees buckled a bit and as a result I pretty much fell into Ulrich's arms.

The instant his hands fall to my waist I'm reminded of the one other time he held me this way.

Ulrich obviously felt the same awkwardness because as soon as he steadied me he let go and walked past without a word.

"Um...good luck in there," I murmured, watching him as he stepped into the scanner. "Be careful."

Turning to face me he smirked a bit shyly, a telltale blush dusting his cheeks. "T-thanks."

The scanner doors closed, cuing his virtualization process. I hadn't thought to ask why it had taken him so long to arrive. It could have been that XANA kept him somehow. It could have been that he was trying to avoid us from being on Lyoko at the same time.

Truth be told, while things are still friendly between us, we haven't spoken much since that night. We agreed to never speak of it again.

After all, I told him we could be friends and that's all...

But now...now I'm starting to see that maybe we'd never been just friends. We've always been something more. I just never saw it. Not until that night.

_Pregnant._

I can't take it back. If only I could take it back things could be different, but I can't.

_Pregnant._

"So now what?" I wondered aloud while taking slow steps to the elevator on the other end of the room. "I need to tell him about it, but..."

I'm not sure why I asked the questions aloud, especially when Jeremie could peek in with the security system and overhear everything. Crap. He could have seen that awkward display between me and Ulrich too. If he did see, I just hope he doesn't ask questions.

_Pregnant._

Stepping into the elevator I pressed the button to the floor Jeremie was on then closed the door. "_There are other problems too. I don't know how fighting in Lyoko affects this...thing inside my stomach...or if I should even care about that to begin with. What happened between Ulrich and I was a mistake and there's no way I'm dealing with that mistake for nine months. Thanks to my vote to keep William out of the group...if I have to bow out thanks to this then...my friends...the entire world will be at a disadvantage. I can't...I can't let that happen."_

Even though I hadn't wanted to think about it, the thoughts and questions on what to do about this situation tumbled through my mind at lightning speed. Deep down I know there's only one realistic course I can take. The idea didn't sit well with me, but with the whole world potentially at stake here, I have to take drastic measures.

What happened was a mistake. I have to correct it. That's all there is to it.

"_But what about Ulrich?_ _He should have a say in this, shouldn't he? After all, he's..."_

Gritting my teeth I rammed my fist against the elevator wall behind me to squash the thought before it could truly register. This isn't something I can afford to think about too deeply, which means that...

I can't tell Ulrich about any of this.

_I can't...face it alone. I n-need you._

The horrible memory attached to those words flashes across my mind unbidden. I see Ulrich's eyes and feel his fingers through the gaps between mine.

"_We just barely managed to survive that horrible moment_," I thought, fighting back tears. "_We survived only to mess everything up, and I don't want Ulrich to feel the weight of that."_

The elevator doors open. Jeremie is sitting in his chair, typing away like a madman while barking out orders to Ulrich and warning Odd about low life-points. Everything he said passed over me like static.

This battle is one I have to face alone...without Ulrich, without anyone.

* * *

A/N: And with that this chapter is over. I hope you guys enjoyed it and that you will look forward to the next chapter whenever it arrives. At present I have no idea when that will be, but I do want to continue this story. Up until this story I've never written for Code Lyoko before, and spending any amount of time with these characters is like getting a splash of nostalgia as this show was one of my favorites growing up. So, if you are enjoying the story so far, please let me know in that review box. Thank you for reading and God bless you all!

Extra note: My intention with this story is to portray these conflicts as realistically as possible for these characters. I am pro-life, but the purpose of this story isn't to make a statement on the issue of abortion. (Though as you can see from the ending of this chapter that that topic will come up.) It's to tell a story about a girl trying to decide what the best course of action is for not only herself, but her friends, and the world at large. I am the writer of this story, and some of my personal views may end up finding their way into this work, but I have no qualms about writing from a perspective entirely different from mine. I'm a writer who lets the story write itself. At present, I don't know what Yumi is going to do any more than you guys do. Essentially what I'm saying is that people are complicated and it's a lot easier to say the right thing than it is to do the right thing. We all make mistakes and knowing that, we all need to have compassion for one another. I feel that this concept is what the story is going to boil down to more than anything else, but we'll see what happens. Right now I don't know what this story will end up being, but I'll do the best I can to treat this topic and the differing opinions surrounding it with respect. Thank you for your time. God bless you guys!


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